TVSquad

(S05E12) Last spring, I went to hear Ira Glass give a talk about his popular NPR radio (and now TV) show This American Life. He outlined the formula for the show's success, and he also talked about House. Websites have documented the formula for every episode: Every episode is essentially the same. So, why does it work every time? Last night, I was hooked by Emmy the trainer rolling down stairs, and I was then hooked by the discovery of her surgery. I know that every single diagnosis and test and treatment is going to be bunk until the big, strange reveal at the end. However, it's almost like I am the same as House with my need to know what that weird reveal is going to be.

That said, I was thinking a lot about the formula last night. One of the things that didn't work for me so well was the war between House and Cuddy over their offices. Even though I enjoyed it when House destroyed her toilet, the moment was so over the top and so slapstick that it also lost me. It was just too much. I liked it better when they stuck to things like making House's office stink for a time-- a prank without serious financial consequences like the destruction of a toilet. But that is probably something I should discuss with my therapist, seeing as this is television. I just need to lighten up.

Then there's the new part of the formula: Each physician takes turns bonding with the patient. This time it was Taub. Each of the physicians sees themselves in the patient and responds accordingly. In this case, Taub called Emmy on her hypocrisy. She kept insisting that she was getting healthy by having weight-reduction surgery and Taub the plastic surgeon kept throwing back to her that she wasn't actually healthy; she was pretty. Big difference.

I was surprised that Taub didn't reveal more about himself as both a plastic surgeon and a philanderer to Emmy. Instead, he revealed himself to House. House asked him how he felt when he was cheating, and Taub said that he felt superficially very happy, but he suspected that he was really miserable. Were you surprised that he didn't hit on Emmy? I was a little surprised by it, but also proud of him for not doing it, because maybe he has a chance to make his marriage work. Who knows?

We keep getting more little details about Thirteen, this time that she hated her mother. More to the point, she hated what the Huntington's made her mother become. It's not hard to wonder what she is going to do when she starts to have symptoms in earnest. The sad thing is, I don't think we'll ever find out. I think the show will end before then, and her fate will remain a mystery. I like Thirteen a lot, and I like finding out more details about her slowly, as well as her interactions with Foreman. He has taken it upon himself to be her savior, and I look forward to this storyline every week.

Speaking of over-the-top, I dislike slapstick, but I did really love the prank House pulled on Kutner and Taub with the patient who had leaky breast implants and was singing in the ER. That was excellent, and I didn't see it coming. There are so many smaller cases that occur simultaneously on this show that I didn't think it was a huge stretch that Kutner had a case on the side. I didn't suspect it was a fake until House climbed onto the "dead" patient in the morgue. Classic. But I was completely pissed at House for being with her in his office when Cuddy came to thank him for the desk. Do you think he was in his office with her on purpose, knowing Cuddy could come by? Or does House just persistently and tragically always undermine his relationship with Cuddy, without even trying?

Do you wish House and Cuddy would just get together already, or do you like the dance they're doing? I have to go with the dance, because I am afraid of the Sam and Diane syndrome from Cheers (couple finally gets together; show dies).